


Suck It Up (rewritten)

by sarahgirl1998



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Comedy, Cute, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24261208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: Sniffles gets sick and Lumpy takes care of him.
Kudos: 1





	Suck It Up (rewritten)

“Ugh... *sniffle*”

Sniffles groaned and sniffled once again as he lay in his bed, with a hot water bottle placed on his forehead. The poor anteater had woken up with a bad cold, and it had been bothering him all day. It didn’t help that even though he had been lying in bed for what felt like hours, he still wasn’t feeling any better.

Sniffles reached over to his tissue box and pulled out a tissue. But before he could use it, his trunk twitched, and he inhaled, tilting his neck backward.

“Aaah... Haaaah... HAAAAAH-SHYEEEEEWWWW!”

Sniffles doubled over briefly, and his glasses nearly fell off his face, but he immediately pushed them back up. He sniffled again as he wiped his nose on his wrist, and sighed to himself.

“Ugh, I feel terrible...” Sniffles said to himself.

Sniffles took the tissue that he was going to use and rubbed it under his trunk. It didn’t really help, however, since his nose was feeling really stuffed up. He stayed in his bed, thinking of something he could do. Maybe somebody could come and take care of him...

Sniffles got an idea, reached over to his cell phone and checked his messages. He had several messages on his phone, most of which were from his friends. He selected Lumpy’s name and typed him a message.

“Lumpy, I‘d like some help, please...”

Then he sent the message. As he waited for Lumpy to respond, Sniffles sniffled and rubbed his trunk with his arm. After a couple of minutes, Lumpy responded.

“What’s wrong?”

“I might have caught a cold. Would you please take care of me?”

“Sure, I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

“Aah-haaaah... Chyuuuu!!” Sniffles doubled over as he sneezed again, and then rubbed his trunk with his tissue. “Gah... I hope he cobes here sood...” he said to himself, referring to Lumpy.

After a few minutes had gone by, Lumpy arrived at Sniffles’ house and rang the doorbell. He waited a little bit for Sniffles to answer, but there was no reply. He was just about to ring the doorbell again, but then his phone vibrated. He checked his messages.

“I’m upstairs. You can come in.”

Lumpy put away his phone, pushed the door open and made his way into the house. He went up the stairs to Sniffles’ bedroom and stopped when he reached his door. He knocked on it a few times, and then opened it slowly.

“Sniffles? I’m here,” Lumpy said.

“Oh, thadk gooddess...” Sniffles muttered to himself.

Before he could speak any more, however, his trunk twitched, and his breath hitched again. Lumpy looked on, looking confused at first, but when he heard Sniffles’ inhales, he knew full well what was going to happen.

“Haaaah... Aaaaahh... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH-CHYEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!”

A small amount of saliva came out of Sniffles’ mouth as the sneeze exploded out of him. It was particularly bigger and louder than usual, but it was at least more satisfying. Sniffling, Sniffles rubbed his nose tenderly with his forefinger.

“Bless you,” Lumpy said to him.

“Thadks...” Sniffles replied, still rubbing his nose. “Ad excuse be. I ab havidg wud bad code...”

“Yeah. I can tell...” Lumpy gained a look of concern.

Sniffles removed his forefinger, sniffling again as he did so. Lumpy walked up to him and placed his hand on his forehead.

“I think you have a fever, too...” he lamented. He presumably didn’t know that Sniffles still had his hot water bottle on his head, so Sniffles pointed it out to him.

“I dow. That’s why I have that od by head.”

“Well, if this thing is supposed to help you, I don’t think it’s doing a good job,” Lumpy said.

“Haaaah...!” Sniffles inhaled again, and then released yet another sneeze. He made sure to turn his head away from Lumpy. “Shhhyuuuuu!”

A moment later, Sniffles rubbed his nose with his fist, and Lumpy gave him a tissue.

“Bless you,” said Lumpy.

Sniffles accepted the tissue, held it to where the bridge of his nose would be and tried to blow his nose. It partially cleared the insides of his nasal passages, but by partially, I meant a ridiculously small amount.

“Um, bless you,” Lumpy said again, as Sniffles wiped his trunk with his tissue.

“Thadks, Lubpy, but you odly deed to say that odce,” Sniffles told him, still wiping his trunk. “Whed I sdeeze, dot whed I blow by dose.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Lumpy sweated a little bit.

“It’s alright, Lubpy,” Sniffles said with a smile. “To be fair, I’b dot surprised you said it.”

“Oh, okay.” Lumpy nodded in understanding. “So, um, would you like anything from me?”

Sniffles let out a congested sniffle in response.

“By... by trudk is so stuffy...” he lamented.

Lumpy thought about how to fix this for a moment. Then he got an idea and walked closer to Sniffles. He gently grabbed onto his trunk and started rubbing it, trying to unclog it. Sniffles gave a couple of congested sniffles as he did so.

“Does this help?” Lumpy wanted to know.

“Um, d-dot... really...” A wet sniffle emerged from the ill anteater, followed by a barely audible inhale. “Hhhhh...”

Not hearing the inhale, Lumpy continued to rub up and down Sniffles’ trunk. After a few seconds, however, Sniffles’ inhales started to get louder.

“Aaaah... Heeeeehhhh...” Sniffles tilted his neck back slightly.

It was at this point that Lumpy realized what was going to happen. It was that Sniffles was going to sneeze again. Lumpy quickly let go of Sniffles’ trunk and looked on with an expression of concern on his face. Sniffles tilted his upper body as far back as he could, his trunk quivering slightly before he exploded.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-SHYYYYIIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!”

Sniffles shot his upper body forwards as he released the sneeze, which caused a good amount of phlegm and mucus to spurt out of his mouth. Lumpy cringed as he watched this happen. He didn’t think Sniffles was even capable of letting out a sneeze this gross.

Sniffles recovered, sniffled loudly and rubbed underneath his trunk with his forefinger.

“Bless you, Sniffles,” said Lumpy.

“Thadks...” Sniffles replied as he continued to rub his poor trunk.

Lumpy placed his hand on Sniffles’ forehead and rubbed it gently, trying to comfort him.

“You’ll get better soon, Sniffles. I promise...” Lumpy tried to reassure him. “Maybe if you made yourself a potion, it’d help you feel better.” Lumpy had just remembered a few times where he wasn’t feeling well, and when Sniffles made him some potions to help relieve his symptoms, or even cure the illness entirely.

“I would, but...” Sniffles gave another wet sniffle as he pulled his forefinger away from his trunk. “It’s so hard for be to create a potiod whed I’b dot feelidg well.”

“Oh, yeah...” Lumpy replied. “No wonder you don’t do that.”

“Ad eved worse, I'b really dot sure I cad trust you to bake be a potiod, eved with by idstructiods,” Sniffles went on. “It bay be for the best that you just durse be for a while...”

“I understand,” Lumpy said with a smile. “And I will. Is there anything you'd like?”

"I suppose sobe tea would be dice..." said Sniffles. He then tilted his neck back, gave one inhale, and then sneezed again, putting his hand where his mouth would be. "Aaah-chyew!" He then sniffled a few times as he rubbed under his trunk delicately with his forefinger. "Excuse be..."

"Bless you," said Lumpy. He started to walk out of the bedroom. "You want some soup with that?"

Sniffles continued to rub his trunk, but smiled at the idea. "I'd like that, too, please."

"Okay, then. If you need anything else, just text me." Lumpy headed out of the bedroom and went downstairs.

As Sniffles waited for Lumpy, he kept sniffling and rubbing his trunk. One minute his trunk felt runny, and the next, it felt like it was stuffed up. But either way, Sniffles wasn't too comfortable with his symptoms. The sneezing, however, was arguably the worst part. Most of them were either painful to release, or not satisfying enough for Sniffles to consider them worth releasing.

"Aaah... Haaaaah..." Sniffles rubbed gingerly at his trunk, trying to calm it down, but it just wasn't working. "HaaaaaaAAAAAAAH-- CHYEWWWWW!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH-CHYUUUUUUUUU!!! Hehh... HUUUUUUHHHHH-CHEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!! Ugh..."

Sniffles rubbed his trunk again with his forefinger, sniffling repeatedly as he did so. He couldn't recall the last time he felt as uncomfortable as he did now. That being said, he couldn't wait for his soup and tea to be ready.

After a few minutes, Lumpy came back into the room, a tray in his arms. The tray held two things, a bowl that was filled to the brim with steaming soup, and a mug that was filled with warm tea. He went over to Sniffles, smiling reassuringly at him.

"Here you go, Sniffles," Lumpy said. He placed the tray directly on Sniffles' lap as he sat up.

Sniffles smiled with a weak sniffle, picked up the spoon and began to eat the soup. It tasted good, although it tasted a bit different than the other times he'd eaten it. But since this was because of his cold rather than the soup himself, it ultimately came as no surprise. Sniffles took his time eating the soup, and occasionally took a sip of tea as he did so, while Lumpy stayed and watched.

Finally, both the bowl and mug were empty. Lumpy picked the tray back up as Sniffles took a deep breath and sighed contentedly.

"Thadk you so buch, Lubpy," Sniffles replied with a smile. "I still feel a little udder the weather, but I was happy to have sobe of your delicious soup."

"In fact, it was albost as good as how I... haaaaah..." Sniffles inhaled again, tilting his neck backward as his trunk twitched. "Tchyewwww!" He then sniffled, rubbing underneath his trunk with the back of his hand. "It was albost as good as how I bake it."

Lumpy giggled at how cute the sneeze sounded and replied. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sniffles. And bless you."

"Thadks..." Sniffles continued to rub his nose as Lumpy carried the tray out of the room, intending to put it somewhere in the kitchen so he could do the dishes later. When he came back in, Sniffles was laying back down in bed, still sniffling here and there.

"Is there anything else you'd like from me, Sniffles?"

"Well, um... Aaah, heh..." Sniffles tilted his upper body back slightly, then gave a final inhale and exploded once more. He tried to cover his mouth by putting his hands over it, but it was incredibly hard to do since he was an anteater. "HAH-- CHYU~!"

"Uuugh..." Sniffles pulled out another tissue and rubbed his trunk with it. He wished he could blow his nose, but his species made him unable to.

"I think you could use some rest, Sniffles," Lumpy stated.

Sniffles nodded in agreement, balled up his tissue and put it aside. He then sniffled a couple of times as Lumpy tucked the corners of his blankets underneath him.

"Yeah, you're right... but first..." Sniffles looked over at Lumpy with a slight smile. "Do you suppose you could sdeeze for be?"

Lumpy smiled as well, from both the idea and from seeing Sniffles do so first. "Gee, I would, Sniffles, but I don't have to sneeze."

Sniffles gave another sniffle as he rubbed his trunk gently with his arm. "Keep id bide... ahem, mind, Lubpy, there's do tellidg whether you could catch by code or dot. We all dow how codtagious the cobbod code is..."

Lumpy took a brief sniff, trying to bring a tickle into his nose, but nothing happened. "Hmm. I don't think I'm catching a cold. My nose doesn't even need to sneeze..."

Sniffles nodded as he understood that, but then smiled playfully as an idea came to him. He reached his right hand up to Lumpy's nose and began to wiggle his fingers around, as though he were trying to tickle him. Lumpy reacted with a few cute giggles as he smiled.

"S-Sniffles! Hehe, it tickles!" Lumpy said as his nose twitched.

"I dow." Sniffles continued to tickle Lumpy's nose, until finally he was able to make him need to sneeze.

"Ah, aaah..." Lumpy inhaled as he tilted his neck backward. His nostrils flared slightly as his eyelids fell shut, and the final inhale came forth, followed immediately afterward by the release. "AHHHHHHH... Ah-chooooooooo!"

The sneeze was a bit anticlimactic compared to the buildup, but it sounded cute. Lumpy could hear Sniffles giggling as the former rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

"Bless you, Lubpy," said Sniffles.

"Thank you," Lumpy said, still rubbing his nose. He took one of the tissues from Sniffles' box and wiped his nose, making Sniffles giggle even more.

"I gotta say, Lubpy, you are just too cute sobetibes," Sniffles commented.

Lumpy blushed, sniffling as he kept wiping his nose for a few seconds. Finally he placed his gently-used tissue in his pocket.

"Do you need anything else, Sniffles?"

"Actually..." Sniffles yawned quietly into his hand, or tried to. "I thidk I'd just like to take a dap. I've beed awake all day."

Lumpy smiled and tucked him in once more, just to make sure he was comfortable. "Like I said, you need your rest."

He gently pulled Sniffles' glasses off of his face, folded up the glasses and placed them on the end table. He rubbed the ill anteater's forehead gently, with it feeling far less warm than it had been earlier today. He pulled the hot water bottle off and placed it on the end table as well.

"You have a good sleep, Sniffles," said Lumpy. "I'll keep an eye on the house until you wake up."

"Thadk you." Sniffles' eyelids began to fall, until they finally closed. Before long, he was snoring quietly.

Lumpy smiled, then walked out of the room as quietly as he could, shutting the door behind him. Knowing it would probably be a while before Sniffles woke up, Lumpy made his way down the stairs to go into the living room and find a way to pass the time.

Lumpy and Sniffles both knew it was probably going to be a few days before Sniffles felt better, but both of them were looking forward to that day. In the meantime, Sniffles was glad that he had decided to tell Lumpy about his condition and call him over. Even if Lumpy wasn't good at a lot of things, he certainly was great at taking care of his friends when they weren't feeling good.


End file.
